diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_image.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_image.go
index 83fa12171b0..779a94e382a 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_image.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_image.go
@@ -150,7 +150,15 @@ func (o *ImageOptions) Complete(f cmdutil.Factory, cmd *cobra.Command, args []st
 			SelectorParam(o.Selector).
 			ResourceTypeOrNameArgs(o.All, o.Resources...).
 			Latest()
+	} else {
+		// if a --local flag was provided, and a resource was specified in the form
+		// <resource>/<name>, fail immediately as --local cannot query the api server
+		// for the specified resource.
+		if len(o.Resources) > 0 {
+			return resource.LocalResourceError
+		}
 	}
+
 	o.Infos, err = builder.Do().Infos()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_resources.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_resources.go
index e3cff84942c..f26d0876272 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_resources.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_resources.go
@@ -155,6 +155,13 @@ func (o *ResourcesOptions) Complete(f cmdutil.Factory, cmd *cobra.Command, args
 			SelectorParam(o.Selector).
 			ResourceTypeOrNameArgs(o.All, args...).
 			Latest()
+	} else {
+		// if a --local flag was provided, and a resource was specified in the form
+		// <resource>/<name>, fail immediately as --local cannot query the api server
+		// for the specified resource.
+		if len(args) > 0 {
+			return resource.LocalResourceError
+		}
 	}
 
 	o.Infos, err = builder.Do().Infos()
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_resources_test.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_resources_test.go
index 204322c8854..16bd5300bef 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_resources_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_resources_test.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ func TestResourcesLocal(t *testing.T) {
 		Requests:          "cpu=200m,memory=512Mi",
 		ContainerSelector: "*"}
 
-	err := opts.Complete(f, cmd, []string{""})
+	err := opts.Complete(f, cmd, []string{})
 	if err == nil {
 		err = opts.Validate()
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_selector.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_selector.go
index ae3f074099d..895daf0ee98 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_selector.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_selector.go
@@ -134,6 +134,13 @@ func (o *SelectorOptions) Complete(f cmdutil.Factory, cmd *cobra.Command, args [
 		o.builder = o.builder.
 			ResourceTypeOrNameArgs(o.all, o.resources...).
 			Latest()
+	} else {
+		// if a --local flag was provided, and a resource was specified in the form
+		// <resource>/<name>, fail immediately as --local cannot query the api server
+		// for the specified resource.
+		if len(o.resources) > 0 {
+			return resource.LocalResourceError
+		}
 	}
 
 	o.PrintObject = func(obj runtime.Object) error {
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_subject.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_subject.go
index 791021b9b2f..7e148048e51 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_subject.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/set/set_subject.go
@@ -137,7 +137,15 @@ func (o *SubjectOptions) Complete(f cmdutil.Factory, cmd *cobra.Command, args []
 			SelectorParam(o.Selector).
 			ResourceTypeOrNameArgs(o.All, args...).
 			Latest()
+	} else {
+		// if a --local flag was provided, and a resource was specified in the form
+		// <resource>/<name>, fail immediately as --local cannot query the api server
+		// for the specified resource.
+		if len(args) > 0 {
+			return resource.LocalResourceError
+		}
 	}
+
 	o.Infos, err = builder.Do().Infos()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/resource/builder.go b/pkg/kubectl/resource/builder.go
index 8908bc2ef30..70a60937818 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/resource/builder.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/resource/builder.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package resource
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/url"
@@ -88,6 +89,11 @@ Example resource specifications include:
    '<resource> <name>'
    '<resource>'`)
 
+var LocalResourceError = errors.New(`error: you must specify resources by --filename when --local is set.
+Example resource specifications include:
+   '-f rsrc.yaml'
+   '--filename=rsrc.json'`)
+
 // TODO: expand this to include other errors.
 func IsUsageError(err error) bool {
 	if err == nil {